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The Power of Prevention and Innovation in Transportation Safety

Jan 26th, 2012
by Mark.
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Alexandra Rojas Lopera, director of The Fondo de Prevencion Vial

My schedule for this year’s Transportation Research Board Annual Conference was a bit different than last year. Instead of going to  high-profile, big name sessions, I wanted to see how less obvious and more diffuse initiatives were changing transportation policy and improving lives.

Greig Craft started the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation in 1999 as a way to reduce road crash fatalities and injuries in Asia and Africa. Both continents have a huge segment of their populations riding motorcycles, bicycles, and other motorized non-automobile vehicles. There’s also an epidemic of not wearing helmets in these parts of the world based on social norms and misinformation.

Craft, with the The Global Helmet Vaccine Initiative, redesigned helmets so they would fit children better and be cooler in tropical climates.  Profits go back into the community for marketing and road safety education. The program is spreading worldwide, with a UN Resolution calling for a 50 percent reduction in road traffic fatalities by 2020 and signed by more than 90 countries.

 The Fondo de Prevencion Vial, directed by Alexandra Rojas Lopera,  is an outreach and enforcement campaign in Columbia to get roadway users to obey traffic laws. Unlike most countries, Columbia sees a disproportionate share of traffic accidents in urban areas due to lax enforcement and a culture of reckless driving and pedestrian behavior. Research has shown that positive marketing campaigns are more effective than fear-mongering. Instead of talking down to the public, the campaign encourages them to be smart, responsible, and avoid excuses for reckless behavior.

Because the number of injuries and fatalities prevented due to these programs is difficult to measure, prevention efforts and the people behind them don’t usually get the recognition they deserve.  As discussed in the book, “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” by Taleb, if someone led the charge to allow firearms in cockpits before 9/11, nobody would write a history book about this person preventing the U.S. terrorist attacks. There is no way we would have known this policy was directly responsible for preventing hijackings. Their name would be a footnote in the infinite encyclopedia of history.

Likewise, these traffic safety efforts are attempting to change dangerous habits deeply rooted in culture. It’s not enough to just provide helmets or tell people to drive safely.  In Roger’s “Diffusion of Innovation”, the spread of products and new ideas has to be culturally sensitive, reach the right opinion leaders, and have a critical mass to become wide spread enough to make a difference:

Within the rate of adoption there is a point at which an innovation reaches critical mass. This is a point in time within the adoption curve that enough individuals have adopted an innovation in order that the continued adoption of the innovation is self-sustaining. In describing how an innovation reaches critical mass, Rogers outlines several strategies in order to help an innovation reach this stage. These strategies are: have an innovation adopted by a highly respected individual within a social network, creating an instinctive desire for a specific innovation. Inject an innovation into a group of individuals who would readily use an innovation, and provide positive reactions and benefits for early adopters of an innovation.

The hope is to turn authority led innovation into collective innovation decisions. Seeing all of your friends wear a helmet is a more powerful message than seeing a poster telling you to wear one.  Getting positive information out to the public in the right way, to the right people, and in the right format is just as important as building new infrastructure when it comes to public health and safety.

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Sometimes, Baltimore Transit Works

Jan 19th, 2012
by Mark.
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Another successful trip by bus

Patrick, a loyal reader, writes in to tell us about his journey to work today. It’s a tale which would make even Odysseus weep with envy and awe.

Since I write you to complain when I have a particularly bad bus experience, I thought I should write to let you know about a pretty good one today.

For some reason this morning the drum brake on my rear wheel’s internal hub decided to freeze up at 23rd & Guilford. I’m lousy at fixing and maintaining bikes and while I’ve got a bunch of tools under my seat, I don’t have a crescent wrench there to release the brake cable. It deserves a tune-up and I’ve got a gift certificate to 20Twenty waiting for me to get over there.

 But instead of being stranded, I carried my bike over to Greenmount and caught the #8. After I got on I realized that my smart card was empty and all I had was $10 cash. But the helpful driver pointed out that I could refill my SmartTrip card and was patient while I did (after I got over thinking she wanted me to pay $10 for the $1.60 ride).

So, on behalf of all MTA patrons, I want to thank the MTA for having bike racks on all the buses, a functioning smart card system, and frequent service on Greenmount so that when one mode stops working there’s a good and convenient alternative.

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Interview With Liam Quigley

Jan 5th, 2012
by Mark.
1 comment

The Idea Of Order in Miami

After some server problems and a much needed hiatus in Miami, I’m back and bringing it for real.  Quick observations about Miami:

  • Lots of new bike lanes on 5 lane arterials with average speeds of 50mph. Really? I didn’t use them, and hardly anyone else did while I was there. Need more cycle tracks.
  • Three words: Art Deco everything.  Hotel lobbies straight out of Mad Men.
  • Crazy attractive women.
  • Metro system surprisingly useful. Buses surprisingly clean and on time.  New metro link to airport and multi-modal transportation center will be a boon to the system.
  • Paradise Radio will take you there on your drive to Key West.
  • Crazy attractive women.

Now for our feature presentation. Liam Quigley is the president of the MICA cycling association and regularly commutes by bike between Downtown and Upper Charles Village.  He contributes to the Baltimore Brew and writes for Baltimore Velo.

Some people want to save the world. Others just want to save a buck. What inspired you to reduce your car use?

My car use has actually increased this year since I started using Zipcar, from driving very occasionally (only while moving) to driving when it makes sense, like somewhere accessible only by automobile. My commuting has always been by bicycle or public transit, but now I have access to cars when I need them without the financial burden of owning one.

Suburbanites say some crazy things about this city. Did you have any fears about traveling in Baltimore without a car? Are any of those concerns still an issue for you?

I’ve had my fair share of aggressive overtakers, right-hooks, and general negative encounters on the streets, but nothing that would ever make me consider changing the way I commute. There are plenty of neighborhoods that I feel more comfortable riding a bicycle in than walking through.

What’s the coolest place in Baltimore (a park, cafe, bar, neighborhood, etc) you discovered that you wouldn’t have had you not ditched your car?

Almost every good place I’ve found in Baltimore has been by walking or bicycling there.

When you’re in a car, you can wear pretty much whatever, but you have to be more prepared when you’re outside. Plus, more people see you on a bus or on a bike compared to driving. Has your clothing style changed at all since going car lite/car free?

I feel pretty strongly that it is very possible to look really good and still ride your bike places. I’ve had longer commutes and just pack an extra t-shirt. I have yet to find myself comprising my clothing for my method of commuting or vice versa. I’ve always though that people who say bicycling won’t “take off” until there are showers at every office building are probably overdressed.

Part of the beauty of cities is serendipity. Finding something meaningful in an unexpected place. Is there a person or event you’ve encountered while walking/biking/taking transit that stands out?

Most of my significant ‘finds’ in Baltimore have been by bike, and I end up returning to these places by bike over and over again. It’s so much easier to go between neighborhoods by bicycle.

After living car free for a year, I would find it difficult to move back to an auto-dominated suburb, but the “American Dream” is still identified with a big single family house with a huge yard and an SUV. Has your idea of the “American Dream” changed at all?

Never has.

How can we make living car lite/car free an option for more people in Baltimore?

Start with buses that run on time and incentivizing public transit. Legitimizing bicycling as a transportation device even further would be great.

We need a group like Transportation Alternatives in Baltimore, and serious penalties for drivers who kill or injure pedestrians and cyclists.

We will also never succeed in this until we take care of pedestrians properly. Walking in Baltimore really sucks. The lights don’t change for you (even if there are lights), the crosswalks are non-existent, and drivers treat pedestrians like shit.

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Food Deserts

Nov 21st, 2011
by Mark.
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Food Deserts in Baltimore (in purple)

You don’t really think of America as a place where people are malnourished. Images from the media and reports from the CDC continue to show the U.S. at the center of an obesity epidemic, but through vast stretches of our cities there’s a lack of affordable, healthy food available. Corner stores are filled with junk or 10 day old bananas at a huge markup, while in many lower-income neighborhoods, the nearest full service grocery store can be more than a mile away.  For people without access to a car, a mile is far even by bus, and doubly so when they have to carry grocery bags back home.

With rising poverty rates and once affluent and stable middle-class suburban neighborhoods showing signs of decline,  a growing number of families are looking for less expensive food in places where healthy food is not easily available without auto access.  When transportation costs and time are factored in, this means picking up a microwave pizza is far easier and less expensive than traveling across town for a salad.

In identifying the problem, the USDA has started a Food Environment Atlas which has food price and availability data at the county level.  In Baltimore,  The Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University is trying to bridge this food access gap. Their first task is mapping and understanding the problem.  Some preliminary analysis can be found here. Predictably, there are vast food deserts in East and West Baltimore.

It’s not only a Baltimore issue, but a broader problem of spatial inequality in urban centers. A good case study is London.  A 2008 Journal of Health Geographics describes the trend toward decreasing food availability in inner city neighborhoods:

The research team reported that low-income residents of London’s inner-city neighborhoods had poorer access to supermarkets than middle- and high-income residents. Moreover, spatial inequalities in access to supermarkets had increased over time. In 1961, more than 75% of London’s inner-city population lived within 1 kilometer of a supermarket, giving them easy access to a variety of foods, says principal investigator Jason Gilliland, who directs the university’s Urban Development Program. In 2005, he says, that number was less than 20%.

So does access to healthy food mean that people will eat healthier? The other side of the argument is that even with nearby grocery stores and farmer’s markets, consumers will still by the same junk. From the Economist:

No surprise, then, that neither USDA nor the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has been able to establish a causal link between food deserts and dietary health. In fact, both agree that merely improving access to healthy food does not change consumer behaviour.

This sorta bursts my bubble. Consumer behavior and microeconomics opens up a can of worms, so let’s keep it simple and assume that if healthy food is more available, families will eat healthier, at least marginally.  So once the problem is identified and mapped, how do we bridge the geographical gap between places that offer healthy food and the neighborhoods furthest away from them?  There are two obvious solutions; moving the people to the food (without relying on cars), or moving the food to the people.

While transit, bicycle infrastructure, and “food shuttles” can expand access to food for those who can not or choose not to drive, because of the logistics involved (carrying bags and longer trip times), I believe transportation has less of an impact on access than proximity to vendors. This means bringing the food to the people. In Baltimore, a growing number of farmers markets are filling in the gaps, while the Virtual Supermarket Program is bringing healthy food to neighborhood libraries. In DC, programs like DC’s Central Kitchen’s “Healthy Corners Program” stocks fresh fruits and vegetables at neighborhood corner stores.

While marketing and education can also influence eating habits, the experience of seeing a fruit stand where there wasn’t one before can introduce entirely new options for communities who have seen nothing but Twinkies and frozen burritos for far too long.

Improving Food Access in Baltimore from Baltimore Office of Sustainabili on Vimeo.

Healthy Corners from DC Central Kitchen on Vimeo.

 

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Ode To My Past Cars

Nov 4th, 2011
by Mark.
3 comments

Tennessee.  Highway 321 towards the Smoky Mountains.  The broken back left window whistled lush green freedom.

Gas station hood popping.  Acting like I knew what the hell I was looking at just to impress a girlfriend.

Parked in front of my friend Tony’s house.  Shooting the shit at 2am.  Saying what I really thought about God.

Nicholas Maggio

18 x 3.  Driving into NYC without parents for the first time. Getting us lost in the Bronx.

First time I heard songs that will stick in my head even when I can no longer climb my stairs.

My warehouse coworkers in Tennessee showing me where the alternator was. Them laughing as I asked what it did.

Barstow Drive-In. 2009

Driving my mother’s ’85 Charger senior year of High School.  It was made of plastic and duct tape, but it was the Saturn V in my teenage eyes.

Almost night. Mojave National Preserve, September 11, 2001. The radio flickering in and out.

The sound of my father pulling into the driveway as he came home from work.

The fight when that guy jumped on my hood in college.

Her bare feet on the dash.  Hot Pink Glitter.

The heat in the cold. The cool in the heat.

Shotgun.

Nicholas Maggio

 

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The Challenges of Car-Free Dating

Nov 2nd, 2011
by Mark.
8 comments

In sickness and in health, in sunshine and in rain.

We’re honored to have the Baltimore Chop here at Car Free for a guest post.  The Baltimore Chop is a man of leisure and the last of the famous international playboys. His blog focuses on local indie culture, Baltimore events, and downtown gossip. It’s also nominated for 3 Mobbies this year. You should go vote for it right now.

On a more personal note, this dude has taught me that (1) white tube socks and sneakers aren’t an acceptable fashion statement (2) it’s OK to drink in the afternoon if it’s at a good daydrinking bar, and (3) Andy Warhol was way cooler at 60 than you or I will ever be even in our glorious youth.

I’ve only been living car-free for a couple of weeks now. So far, it’s going really well. I’ve already jumped over quite a few of the hurdles I knew were coming: how to buy groceries, getting rained on, dealing with flat bike tires, etc. None of it was as bad as I thought it would be. Pretty soon though, I’m about to take on one of the challenges that’s concerned me the most: a first date.

The idea of dating in general wasn’t really much of a concern for me in deciding to go car-free. All of the women I’ve been out with over the last several years have lived near downtown, and shrinking my dating pool to the inside of the beltway doesn’t feel like much of a sacrifice. Once you start seeing someone steadily, it’s easy enough to stick mostly to your neighborhood places or ask her to drive where driving is required. If she happens to like bike riding, so much the better. (One thing I’m catching onto: women on bikes tend to check out guys on bikes a lot more often and shamelessly than guys with cars.) What’s not to like about biked dates?

At the same time though, I am little old-fashioned. I think a date should be a proper date, especially the first few, and for a man traditionally that means picking your date up and bringing her back home… in a car. Take a look at this post from the Art of Manliness about the traditional first date. The protocols laid out here are every bit as appropriate today as they were when our parents were dating. You can see in the post how heavily the (man’s) car figures into the traditional first date, and the social mores for modern dating can be traced back pretty directly to the invention of the automobile. One could argue pretty easily that Henry Ford single-handedly killed courtship and ‘paved the road’ for dating as we now know it.

Even before I gave up my car, I’d often find myself apologizing for it on dates. The exhaust was loud. It was kind of dirty. The passenger seat was stuck in an awkward position. Basically, it was a shitty old beater. It was my shitty old beater though, and it suited me fine 95% of the time. On a date it wasn’t impressive, but it could pick a woman up and drop her off safely and dependably. Besides, any woman who’s much impressed by nice cars probably isn’t one I ought to be dating anyway. If she couldn’t see past the car to its owner, then I’d be better off without her.

There’s no getting around the thing though: not having a car on a first date is just a tiny bit emasculating, especially in Baltimore. Most people still don’t understand that living without a car can be an actual lifestyle choice, and not just a symptom of being broke. So far trying to explain this has met with mixed results, at best.

Sure, it’s simple enough to ask a woman to meet you somewhere for a date. Many times it’s actually more practical. It’s not even terribly difficult to grab a cab at any point in the evening. It’s just not the same as a car though. Without a car there’s no unlocking her passenger door. No saying on a rainy night “Just wait here where it’s dry and I’ll bring it around.”  There’s no chance to linger long together while you’re double parked at the end of the night. You can’t do that in a cab… or on a bicycle built for two.

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Zen #1

Oct 31st, 2011
by Mark.
2 comments

.

Bob Willoughby

Bob Willoughby

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Interview With Chris Merriam

Oct 24th, 2011
by Mark.
7 comments

Chris Merriam is soon to graduate with a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Morgan State University. He was born in Ednor Gardens, raised in Towson, and now owns a rowhouse in Remington. He (sometimes) blogs at Sidewalk Perspective and (frequently, sometimes profanely) tweets at @sidewalkperspec.


Some people want to save the world. Others just want to save a buck. What inspired you to reduce your car use?

A little of both. When I gave up my car, I simply couldn’t afford it. I had taken a job in Lutherville that was not very transit-accessible, and my bosses literally told me I needed to get a car. After I moved on from that job, I had the opportunity to sell the car, so I did. I wanted to see if it were possible to live in a city like Baltimore with a sub par transit system. So I’d say there were elements of “saving the world” and experimentation, but mostly I just couldn’t afford it, and it’d be pompous of me to claim otherwise.

Suburbanites say some crazy things about this city. Did you have any fears about traveling in Baltimore without a car? Are any of those concerns still an issue for you?

There are definitely places I won’t bike to after dark, I’ll say that. I have had some mildly scary experiences on a bike. Recently I got honked and yelled at on the new Frederick Ave bike lane near the Fred Hilton Pass. In the summer of 2010, there was a rash of actual and threatened violence against cyclists in lower Charles Village. In my case, on multiple occasions, two kids would stand on either side of an intersection and fake like they were going to meet in the middle of the road and knock me off my bike. Nothing ever actually happened, though. One such incident was at night on Charles St (2200 block or so); the other few were on Guilford Ave near 22nd as well. I hope the forthcoming Guilford Bike Boulevard helps establish cyclists as legitimate users of the road.

As for the bus, aside from the occasional crazy/loud/smelly person, I’ve never felt personally endangered at all. I will say this, though: I think MTA bus drivers should be able to kick disruptive passengers off the bus. I have a higher tolerance for stupid people than most, and I think more middle-class people would ride transit if they didn’t think of it as tolerant of knuckleheads.

What’s the coolest place in Baltimore (a park, cafe, bar, neighborhood, etc) you discovered that you wouldn’t have had you not ditched your car?

Oh, man. Too many to list. Probably Westport and the entire Gwynns Falls Trail.

We often link music with places we live and travel to. What do you listen to during your travels around Baltimore? Any songs/albums you most identify with the city?

Don’t know if there’s any significance to these, really, but Springsteen’s The River, Darkness, and Born to Run; and Harry Nilsson’s Pussy Cats. For some reason I’ve listened to those albums a lot on transit.

When you’re in a car, you can wear pretty much whatever, but you have to be more prepared when you’re outside. Plus, more people see you on a bus or on a bike compared to driving. Has your clothing style changed at all since going car lite/car free?

Not really. I stick my pant legs into my socks to prevent greased khakis, but that’s about it. If I have to get really dressed up, I generally take a cab so as not to get sweaty.

Have you seen any personal benefits from getting around the city without a car?

My health and fitness has absolutely improved. Just walking to and from a bus stop is more exercise than you’d get if you drove everywhere, let alone biking. I’ve always found it hard to motivate myself to exercise for the sake of exercising. I guess I’m inherently lazy. Part of the point of getting rid of the car was removing the car as a daily option – if I have it, I’ll use it. I guess my self-control isn’t that good! So anyway, I thought if I removed the car as an option, I would be forced to walk and bike more. I was right. I won’t claim to have lost a ton of weight, but I have no doubt that I’m healthier, and that more of my weight is muscle than it was before.

Oh, and I save about $5,000 per year.

Part of the beauty of cities is serendipity. Finding something meaningful in an unexpected place. Is there a person or event you’ve encountered while walking/biking/taking transit that stands out?

Again, too many to remember. The one thing I really love is seeing people I know out and about and doing the “hey, what are you doing here?” thing.

After living car free for a year, I would find it difficult to move back to an auto-dominated suburb, but the “American Dream” is still identified with a big single family house with a huge yard and an SUV.  Has your idea of the “American Dream” changed at all?

Absolutely. I think my dream had changed before I gave up the car, but at most I can see owning one car per family going forward. And that’s only if I’m married with kids (which currently I’m not). I hate driving, and more than that, I hate the hassles and costs that go with car ownership. Car note, insurance, gas, parking fees/tickets, speeding tickets (I used to get a lot of those)…it just never ends. I know lots of people feel that way, but unlike most people my reaction is not “we should make it easier for people to own cars”; my reaction is “we should bring things closer together and densify the city so fewer people need cars to do what they need to do.”
I simply want nothing to do with the whole culture of owning cars. I realize they’re useful, but there’s no reason, for example, that anyone should have to drive to an office job everyday. Contractors need trucks, sure. Realtors need to carry stuff to open houses. There are exceptions. But far too many people drive today, who really shouldn’t need to. (Also, it’s far too easy for people to get and keep a driver’s license. See: Bereano, Bruce.)

My notion of the American Dream is based far more on community than consumerism.

How can we make living car lite/car free an option for more people in Baltimore?

Improving transit service (both creating new infrastructure, and tweaking what we already have). Making streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Focusing dense development on the downtown core and the radial commercial corridors. Expanding car-sharing.


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Car Free Baltimore 2.0: Car Free Harder-ish

Oct 20th, 2011
by Mark.
5 comments

Yes, the new Car Free Baltimore will still feature the same snarky comments aimed at the suburbs.

Part of becoming an adult is realizing the world doesn’t revolve around you. It also means you stop eating peanut butter and jelly for dinner, but that’s something I’m still working on.

When an article in the Baltimore Brew mentioned this site a few months ago, people left some interesting comments. One by “Claudlaw” stood out:

But I truly believe that when you have a forum to discuss a huge quality of life issue for Baltimore residents, such as all modes city transportation (mass transit, biking and pedestrian issues), meaningful effort should be made to make the discussion as inclusive as possible.  And your discussion seems to focus on a fraction of Baltimore’s population.

This struck me as true. I’m not the kind of guy to talk about myself a lot, and after a year of writing about my experience, it’s time for something to change.   I’d like to open this site up and take it beyond me telling you about the overpriced latte I spilled on my way to some bullshit sports bar in Canton.

And the quality of life comment is right on.  Why do people chose to relocate to a city? Why do people choose to remain in a city? 1. Jobs. 2. Quality of life.  Quality of life includes options, safety, convenience, and all the other little things which make a city an attractive place to live.  In my opinion, the number one advantage cities have are options.  Options for jobs, neighborhoods, events, the people you hang with, and how you get to the grocery store. Recent research shows that too many options can decrease your sense of freedom, but I think this applies more to lettuce brands than bike lanes.

30% of Baltimore’s population doesn’t own a car. While a small segment of this population chooses to be car free, most of these people just can’t afford one. If you’re spending 2 hours on transit to get to a job that pays minimum wage, the choice is to sacrifice a lot of time with your family, or spend money you may not have on a vehicle.  With steady high unemployment and stagnant incomes in the U.S., and with new household expense data showing transportation costs weighing nearly as much as housing, this is not only a transportation issue, but an applied economics issue.

And that’s the opportunity.  By making life outside of cars safer and easier, we get quality of life and cost of living gains for this entire 30%;  people who spend 2 hours on a bus because that’s there only alternative, and the new transplants who are looking for something different than Howard County™. We also give the other 70% a viable option, if they so choose.

So, for the 5 readers I have left after my hiatus, I want to open this up to interviews, pictures, and other interesting but yet-to-be-determined things.   If you got a story to tell, interesting picture or article to share, or want to do an interview, drop me a line at carfreebaltimore(at)gmail(.)com.  If you got a lot to say and want to be a regular contributor, maybe we could work something out.

Stay tuned for an interview with Chris Marriam next week. Peace out.

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Dreaming It Up Again

Aug 18th, 2011
by Mark.
1 comment

After a year of being car free and using this blog (and its readers) as a sound board for my frustrations, elations, and tribulations, it’s time to rethink things.  I’m pretty bored with writing about cracks in the sidewalk.   While I will keep contributing here in some way, something fundamental will have to change.  In the mean time, what I’ve been digging lately:

“Why You Should Stay On The F*cking Bus” – A bus as a metaphor for finding your own street photography niche.  One of the best street photography blogs out there.

Strelka Institute – An art, media, and urban design institute in Moscow (tuition-less) with a focus on creating human-scaled alternatives to Russia’s late urban-renewal follies.  They are very involved in the re-design of Gorky Park.

Ed Gleaser’s NYTimes “Economix” Columns. - Interesting urban economics stuff.  His theory about the Tea Party unintentionally reducing suburban sprawl is interesting, even though I completely disagree.

Polis Blog – Excellent planning blog with an international focus.

How To Dress Well:  On heavy rotation in the Mark household. Click, click and click for more.

The Vinyl District: So much good music, so little time.

See ya around,

Mark

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